Sonic and the Secret Rings: The lost chapter
by Eskarina
Summary: an extra chapter made up by me. Just because Shadow rules all and should have been given a proper part. Some Shadouge in later chapters.


**Sonic and the secret rings**

**The Lost Chapter: Aladdin**

"Sonic!" Shahra cried as the blue hedgehog sped ahead of her yet again, leaving her floating form in the dust, "Sonic, Master, you must listen to me, our many encounters with people you know are not because they too are in this world!"

Sonic skidded, his sneakers giving off sparks. "Huh? Whaddya mean Shahra?"

The long suffering djinn gave a sigh, "Master, you simply must learn to listen to me if you wish to beat Erazor djinn."

Sonic grinned and gave her a thumbs up, "Okay, okay, why do we keep bumping in to people I know?"

"Because part of this book is powered by your imagination too, and your imagination seeks things that are familiar to you in order to make the story seem more real. It is very likely that we shall see more of your friends from your world as we go on, so try not to be too surprised."

Sonic nodded, "I'll try. Which story are we going to next?"

Shahra smiled and floated gracefully in front of her strange blue master, "The most famous story of all the Arabian Nights, The story of a peasant who became a sultan, with the help of a djinn like myself."

Sonic looked confounded, then grinned nervously and shrugged, "Alice in Wonderland?"

Shahra's eyes blazed in fury, "You don't know the story of Aladdin?! There are creatures on other planets that know more about these stories than you!" she gasped, remembering herself, and bowed, "Master."

Sonic blushed, "Sorry, I didn't get read this stuff when I was a kid, I never sat still long enough for stories." He chuckled, "Well, no better time to learn, eh?" And with that he raced off into the vast pages that floated before them and joined the words.

Before long he skidded to a halt in the vast desert he had landed in, peering out from behind a rock he watched as through a heat haze two figures argued beside a large cave. A moment later the smaller of the two entered the cave, followed by some floating creature.

Shahra gave Sonic a helpful push, "Go, after the one who went into the cave, he's Aladdin, he's the one the Erazor wants."

Sonic nodded and shot into the cave, too fast for the larger figure to even notice anything other than a blue blur and a mass of sand being kicked up.

"It smells like my grandma's house in here." Sonic muttered.

Shahra frowned, "This is the cave of wonders where the djinn of the lamp is kept, try to show some respect."

Sonic rolled his eyes and continued to jog through the long and dusty corridors until suddenly he was almost blinded by the golden glow of millions and millions of golden coins, magnificent jewels and many beautiful trinkets.

His bright green eyes wide open in wonder, Sonic gasped, "Wow… Rouge would have a field day with this place…"

"Don't touch anything." Shahra warned, "This is cursed treasure. If you touch it, we'll be trapped in here forever. The only thing that can be touched is the magic lamp, and even that can only be touched by a person pure of heart, a diamond in the rough."

Sonic raised an eyebrow, "So, me then?"

"On the contrary, I believe it is me." A dark voice that Sonic knew all too well answered from behind them.

Shahra gave a gasp and leapt into the ring on Sonic's finger, at the same time Sonic spun around to frown at the speaker.

"Shadow?"

Sure enough, there stood the black and red hedgehog, arms folded and scowling in a typically condescending way. But he was wearing such different clothes, a crimson waistcoat trimmed with gold was slung around his slim torso, his gloves had been removed altogether, and his air-shoes were now red sandals with golden buckles.

Not only that, but behind him floated the form of doom's eye, who was now wearing a fez on his top spike, and looking oddly bewildered.

Sonic brought hand to his face, but not fast enough, as suddenly he burst into a laughing fit, rolling around on the floor with tears pouring down his face.

"Shadow, you look like a fruity ladybug threw up on you!" he roared, holding his stomach to stop himself from exploding at the sheer hilarity of it.

"…Who is Shadow?" the black hedgehog asked, looking befuddled. "I'm Aladdin."

Sonic looked blank then burst into yet more laughter, while doom's eye gave Shadow a look of confusion that was rapidly returned.

Eventually, when he calmed down, Sonic managed to get back to his feet and (still tittering a little) began to speak.

"I'm hunting this bad guy called Erazor Djinn, and he's hunting you. To try and destroy you."

Shadow clenched his fists, "Why? I've done nothing wrong, I only wish to find the lamp in this cave to take to the grand vizier, he'll make me very rich and then I can marry the princess!"

At the word princess doom's eye rolled and Shadow smiled in a dopy manner quite unlike his usual scowl.

Sonic smirked, "You're pretty taken with this princess chick, huh?"

Shadow nodded, starting to walk through the masses of gold and gems towards a doorway, Sonic kept in pace with him, "I suppose so, she is terribly beautiful, hundreds of princes from many foreign lands are desperate to marry her."

Sonic rolled his eyes, "She can't be that great. By the way, what's doom's eye doing following you again?"

Shadow blinked, then looked back at the floating eyeball. "Do you mean my pet monkey?"

Sonic bit his lip to stop himself from laughing again, "Uh… yes?"

The black hedgehog reached out one hand and petted the creature, "He's always followed me, Abu's a good friend."

"Sure he is…" Sonic muttered, trailing off as the two entered another huge catacomb of the cave. This one was almost completely black, only a single torch lighted a pedestal in the centre of the room.

Upon the pedestal rested an entirely unimpressive lamp, rather dusty and made of cheap copper.

Shadow walked up to it and examined the trinket, "…Doesn't look very enchanted. Is this really what we came all this way and completed all those tasks for?"

Sonic looked confused, Shahra appeared in the form of a pink bubble, "In the tale, to prove he is indeed the diamond in the rough, Aladdin completed seven tasks at the request of the grand vizier, an evil man out to kill the sultan and take his throne. At the moment he is being used as little more than an errand boy."

Sonic nodded in understanding, "Sounds a lot like what happens to Shadow in real life."

Meanwhile, Dooms eye was listening to Shadow as he lamented all the hard work he had gone through to collect this lamp that seemed to be completely unexciting in every way.

"It's not even got any oil in it." Shadow commented, shaking the object, "Well, if that man said he wants it, he's welcome to it." With a sigh Shadow lifted part of his crimson vest and rubbed the side of the lamp, obviously feeling it was the least he could do.

Shahra let out a little gasp, "Sonic, stop him, something's wrong, I can't sense a lamp djinn anywhere-!"

Sonic lost no time, lunging across the tiles at unmatchable speeds, desperate to grab the thing or knock it from Shadow's hands before it was too late-

And then it was, the lamp gave a violent shudder in Shadow's hands, he gasped and dropped it, filling the room with a hollow clanking, then suddenly it floated into the air, surrounded by swirling red clouds. A jet of fire spouted from the lamp and in the middle of it stood the hated Erazor.

Chuckling, he reached out for Shadow, "Ah, the famous Aladdin, what a pleasure it is to be the one to destroy you…" he growled deep in his throat.

Sonic got there before he could lay a finger on his rival, "Think again Erazor!" he yelled, kicking the huge Djinn's hand backwards and taking up a fighting stance.

"You again?! You hateful little rat!" Erazor screamed in fury, "Very well, if you will not simply stand aside, then I shall destroy this story with you in it!" with a deep and rumbling laugh that terrified all present to their very souls, the evil djinn returned to the shape of the fire. For a second there was silence, and then violently a bolt of red slammed into the ceiling of the cave and out into the daylight above.

"What on earth?" Shadow asked, staring up at the hole above them, then down to the now completely empty lamp.

Sonic sighed, "That's the guy I'm trying to stop. Wonder what he did that for?"

There was a small, almost unnoticeable rumbling, doom's eye looked worried and began to butt Shadow's arm.

"What?" Shadow questioned, then realised that the ground below his feet was shaking, gently, but getting stronger and more worrying with every moment.

Shahra leapt from Sonic's ring, her face a mask of panic, "Sonic, we have to get out of here, now! He's sped up time, in the story Aladdin escapes just as the cave is collapsing, we'll never get out now!" the poor djinn let out a low sob and covered her eyes, "We are doomed!"

Sonic clenched his fists, "Not yet we're not." He grabbed Shadow's wrist, glaring into his red eyes, "Can you still run fast?"

Shadow looked around blindly, clearly panicked by the proposition that he would soon be dead. He managed a single nod.

Sonic grinned, "Then just try to keep up!" he yelled, and sped off through the doors towards the treasure room, and beyond that, the entrance. After a second or stunned surprise, Shadow followed, able to match Sonic step for step.

The treasure room was a mess when the two reached it, Erazor's magic had turned the place into a raging sea of lava, here and there gemstones floated, half-melted in the intense heat.

"How can we get across?" Sonic gasped, glancing around looking desperately for some safe crossing, the gems were too risky, even for him, and the heat haze made it impossible to see far beyond a few feet.

Shadow glanced from side to side then pointed up, "Look, the torches are still alright, maybe we can swing across!" and without waiting for a reply, the dark hedgehog leapt into the air and caught the searing hot bottom of one of the metal lamps. Sonic winced in sympathy for the pain he must have felt, but the brave hedgehog didn't let go, instead he used the momentum of his jump to make the lamp swing forwards, enough for him to leap to the second lamp and continue across the room, slowly and dangerously, but he was getting there.

Sonic gulped, then, resigned to the fact that he was going to have to do this, he launched himself into the air, hands flung out to grab the dish-like lantern that held the fire.

The pain was intense. Sonic bit his lip to stop himself from screaming in agony and tasted blood. It felt as though his skin was bubbling on his flesh and he was almost certain his gloves had been melted into his fingers. Still, he didn't let go, copying Shadow's action and swinging his whole body forwards.

The lamp's chain gave a protesting creak and then the lamp rocketed towards the second one.

As he made his agonising way over the boiling lava, Sonic wondered how much worse it had to be for Shadow, he wasn't wearing gloves, devoid of what little protection they offered, it was a wonder the black hedgehog hadn't plummeted into the swirling red certain death below them yet.

There suddenly came a sound that Sonic didn't recognise. Confused he stared at Shadow and then let his eyes travel up the length of the chain that held the lamp the black hedgehog was hanging on to.

The noise came again, an odd little 'snick' sound, and then Sonic knew what it was, because he could see the single link in the chain that was slowly coming apart.

"Shadow!!" He screamed, desperate to warn him. There was no reaction from the creature and Sonic mentally slapped himself, "Aladdin! The chain's breaking, jump!"

That got a reaction, Shadow turned suddenly, face a mask of terror, "What?!"

Then the chain snapped. Sonic watched, almost in slow motion, as the frightened hedgehog hung comically in the air for a few seconds as the chain began to fall, and then in a desperate burst of speed and hope, the brave blue hedgehog took a flying leap of faith towards the lamp that hung beyond the snapped one, one hand reaching for it, the other for that chain.

"Master, please, open your eyes!" Sahara whimpered.

Sonic let one of them slip open. One hand clinging with a vice grip onto the lamp, just barely taking the weight, the other hand was grasping a chain tightly, and Sonic could feel his arms, shoulders and torso all lining up to complain about the rough treatment they were receiving.

"Aladdin?" He croaked out, his voice not anything like it's usual calm drawl. He coughed and tried again, "Aladdin? Are you alright?"

"I think I just pissed myself and Abu's fainted, but yes, we're alright." Came the reply from somewhere below the blue hedgehog, he didn't dare look how close they were to the lava.

He let out a low sigh, "Alright, I need you to do something." He started, there was an idea beginning to form in his mind.

"Climb up the chain?"

Sonic considered this, "No, if you do that it'll put too much strain on the one I'm holding onto and we'll both die." He looked around through the thick smoke and heat haze. There was a square of daylight not too far away, the door. "I'm going to swing you towards the doorway, If you can land on the top of it and keep hold of the lamp, then I can swing through the door and you can follow."

There was a pause as Shadow appeared to be considering this, "...We'll have to do it fast, I think the door's about to cave in."

Sonic didn't loose any time, he gave a wriggle and managed to get himself swinging in the right direction, each time they moved towards that almost holy light of day he flung the chain he held a little closer, wondering when Shadow was going to make the jump and hoping it would be soon.

And then he saw it, Shadow using the momentum to launch himself towards the door, saw him grasp the crumbling doorframe with one hand while still hanging on to the lantern.

Sonic let go and allowed the other end of the long chain to swing him helplessly through the air, his eyes snapped shut and for the first time in years he found that he actually feared he was going to die.

He hit the ground knees first and rolled a few feet before stopping, curling into a tight little ball of blue out of pure instinct.

Shadow landed beside him on his feet and prodded the ball of blue spikes tentatively.

Sonic let out a tiny whimper and curled up tighter.

"Sonic, it's alright, we're alive." Shadow said kindly, "You have to unroll so we can get out of here."

Sonic uncurled from the defensive position, blushing slightly at scaring so easily, then nodded and joined Shadow in a race through the doorway that was crumbling around them and into that sweet, blessed sunlight and air. Sand had never felt so good in his sneakers.

Shahra burst from the ring while the two hedgehogs were sitting on a sand dune assessing their injuries.

"Well done master," she praised, kneeling beside Sonic and wrapping a bandage that appeared from thin air around his burnt hand. "You were very brave."

"Or stupid." Shadow muttered as he wrapped his own blistered hands in torn cloth. "We didn't get the lamp, we didn't get any riches, we don't have anything!" He groaned in frustration and kicked at the sand. Doom's eye looked sympathetic and head butted him in a friendly way.

Sonic raised an eyebrow, then turned to Shahra, "Cheerful, isn't he?"

"He's not entirely wrong." The pink djinn mumbled. "Aladdin needs a djinn to grant him three wishes so he may wish himself into a prince, a man worthy of the princess. Without it the story will not end, and that's almost as bad as it not existing."

Sonic rolled his eyes, "Is that all he needs, a djinn who can grant him three wishes?" He turned to Shadow, "You can borrow three wishes from her." He explained, jabbing a thumb in the direction of Shahra.

"But master-" Shahra began to speak.

Sonic cut her off, "Shahra, I wish that you can grant 'Aladdin' here any three wishes he wants."

Sharah sighed heavily and bowed, "Yes, master, but do you mind if I say something?"

"Go ahead." Sonic replied, leaning back in the sand and relaxing his still tense muscles.

Shahra's face became a mask of rage, "You're a silly little blue hedgehog who needs to learn to listen to people before he speaks!"

Sonic and Shadow both stared at the enraged djinn, stunned by the sudden change in her.

"Shahra?"

She sighed and tugged at her ponytail nervously, "My apologies, master, but you see, the third wish Aladdin makes is that his genie be free." Her big sad eyes met Sonic's, "You have just made it so I cannot help you after we collect this world ring."


End file.
